Fold-down gates



Oct. 21, 14958 H. HAsTlNGs 2,856,710

FOLD-DOWN GATES Filed March 4, 1957 INVENTOR. Harold E. HostingsATTORNEY p impact of the vehicle United States Patent O 2,856,710Patented Oct. 2l, 1958 FOLD-DOWN GATES Harold E. Hastings, Denver, Coto.Application March 4, 1957, Serial No. 643,745 2 Claims. (Cl. 39-24) Thisinvention relates to an automatic, self-opening and self-closing gate,and has for its principal object the provision of a highly eicient gatewhich will swing forwardly and downwardly from the path of anapproaching vehicle and then return to the closed position after thevehicle has passed, and to so construct the gate that the possibility ofdamage to either the gate or the vehicle will be reduced to a minimum.

Another object is to provide a shock absorber or bumper for a gate ofthe swing-down type which will cushion the thereagainst, and which willfunction as a guard or shield to prevent undercarriage parts of thevehicle from striking the gate as the vehicle passes thereover.

A further object is to provide return springs for returning the gate tothe closed position which will be easy and economical to install, andwhich will be elevated above normal snow levels and protected againstdust, grit, ice, etc. which might interfere with the operation of theate.

g Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and eiciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a face view of the improved gate in theclosed position;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the gate, taken on the line 2 2, Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, vertical section, taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1*;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, line 4 4, Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a still further enlarged, detail section, taken on the line 55, Fig. 1.

In the drawing, the improved gate is illustrated mounted between twogate posts and 11 supporting any conventional type of fence 12.

The improved gate comprises two vertical gate stiles 13 separated byparallel, spaced-apart, horizontal gate bars 14, 15, and 16. The stilesare formed with transversely extending and axially aligned foot portions17 Welded or otherwise ixedly secured thereto. The foot portions 17 restupon bearing plates 18 and are secured in place thereon by means ofU-shaped, staple-like straps 19. The straps 19 extend through openingsin the base plates and may be driven into the ground or into a sill 39extending across the gate opening in alignment with the road surface.The foot portions 17 are rotatable in the straps 19 so that the gate maybe tilted downwardly from the vertical position in either direction to ahorizontal position on the roadway.

The gate is resiliently maintained in the vertical position by means oftortion springs 20. Each of the tortion detail section, taken on the rsprings 20, and when the gate is springs is mounted in a cylindricalspring barrel 21 extending horizontally through one of the posts 10 or11. A spring shaft 22 extends axially through each of the spring barrels21 and projects inwardly through a head 23 on the barrel toward thegate. The securement between the spring and the shaft and the barrel maybe made in any desired manner so that the spring will be wound byrotating the shaft in one direction, and so that the spring will rotatethe shaft in the opposite direction when the shaft is released.

As illustrated, one extremity of each spring is passed through anopening 40 in the shaft, the other extremity is fitted into a receivingnotch 41 in the outer edge of the barrel. The latter extremity of thebarrel is closed by means of a suitable cap 24. The caps are lockedagainst rotation on the barrels by means of suitable set screws 42, andthe barrels are prevented from rotation in the posts 10 and 11 by meansof bracket straps: 25 which are secured to the posts and to the caps 24by means of suitable attachment screws 26. Thus, it can be seen that ifthe spring shaft 22 at the post 10 be rotated in a counter-clockwisedirection, the springs 20 will be wound to store energy.

A winding sheave 29 is fxedly mounted] or keyed on the inner extremityof each shaft 22 in any desired manner. A flexible cable 3th is securedat its extremity to the sheave 29 at the post 10, such as by means of aterminal screw 27, and is wound about the sheave. A similar cable 31 issimilarly secured and wound about the sheave 29 at the post 11.

The cables 30 and 31 are secured to the improved gate in any desiredmanner so that when the gate is swung in either direction, the cableswill rotate the respective spring shafts 22 counter-clockwise to windthe released, the stored energy in the wound springs will rotate thesheaves 29 in a clockwise direction to rewind the cables 3l) and 31 andrestore the gate to its vertical position.

The gate is provided with two vertical, resilient bumper plates 32 and33 which are secured to the gate by a pair of links 34 rotatably mountedon the gate bar 15, and a corresponding pair of links 35 are rotatablymounted on the lower gate bar 16 parallel to the links 34. The twobumper plates 32 and 33 are turned inwardly at their lower extremitiesso that they will contact each other to limit the downward movement ofthe bumper plates.

The parallel links 34 and 35 extend upwardly and outwardly from the bars15 and 16 so that when pressure is applied to either bumper plate, thelatter can move inwardly and upwardly toward the gate. The parallellinks 34 and 35 are prevented from longitudinal movement on theirrespective bars by means of set collars 36.

Any suitable spring arrangement could be used to resist the upward andinward movement of the parallel links 34 and 35 to provide a cushioningeffect for the bumper plates 32 and 33. As illustrated, this cushioningeffect is accomplished by extending the two cablesI 30 and 31 into theopposite extremities of the middle gate bar` 15, thence extending thecable 30 upwardly to a connection 37 on the bumper plate 33, and bysimilarly extending the cable 31 upwardly and outwardly to a connection3S on the bumper plate 32. This arrangement employs the resiliency ofthe springs 20, both to provide a cushinning effect for the bumperplates 32 and 33 and to resiliently return the gate to the closedposition.

lt is believed the action of the improved gate will be apparent from theabove description. Briefly, when an automotive vehicle approaches thegate, the front bumper of the vehicle will strike one of the bumperplates 33, forcing it inwardly and upwardly against the resistance ofthe springs 20. The forward movement of the vehicle will then cause thegate to tilt forwardly and downwardly 3 with the engaged bumper plateproviding a smooth, continuous surface over which the undercarriage ofthe vehicle frictionally travels. When the Vehicle leaves the engagedbumper plate, the gate will be immediately swung upwardly toits formervertical closed position by the reaction of the wound springs 20.

if found necessary, a. trench 28 may be formed at each side of themid-portion of the gate to receive the lowermost bumper plate when thegate is depressed.

While a specic form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied,withinthe scope of the appended claims, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thusr described theV invention,V what isy claimed anddesiredsecured by'Letters Patent is:

1. In a gate of the swing-down type having two spacedapartfence postswith ay gate frame positioned between said posts and having hinge meanshinging said gate at its bottom so that it may swing from a verticalposition between said posts to a horizontal position at either sidethereon, means for resiliently supporting said gate frame in thevertical position comprising: spring means; a spring barrel horizontallyand fixedly mounted in each of said postsL above said hinge means, theaxes of said barrels lying substantially in the plane of said gateframe; a spring shaft extending axially through each of said barrels andprojecting therefrom inwardly toward said gate frame; a tortion springsurrounding the spring shaft shaft in each barrel, one extremity of eachspring being connected to the barrel and the other extremity of eachspring being connected to the spring shaft so that rotation of saidshafts will impart a rotative bias to said springs; a cable sheavemounted on the inner extremity of each spring shaft between the gateframe and the adjacent post; and a exible cable secured at its oneextremity to each cable sheave and being wound thereabout, said cablesbeing secured at their other extremities to said gate frame at the sidesthereof at a point below said cable sheaves and above said hinge means,said cables being wound about said sheaves in a direction which willincrease the tortion in said springs as said gate isswung downwardly ineither dit dion.

2. Means for resiliently supporting a gate of the swingdown type asdescribed in claim 1 having a substantially vertical bumper barpositioned medially at each face of said gate; parallel links hinged toandl extending between the gate and each bumper bar at an angle from thehorizontal so that said bumper bars will move vertically if forcedtoward said gate; and means for connecting said other. extremities ofsaid cablesl to said bumper bars* so that said tortion springs willserve the double purposeA of resiliently resisting vertical movement ofsaid bumper bars and also resiliently resisting tilting of said gate` ineither direction.

References Citedl in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 603,163Ball Apr'. 26,1898 702,275 Arnold June 10, 1902 2,007,071 Burns July 2,1935- 2,592,736 Puckett' Apr. 115, 1952 2,758,399 Youlie Aug. 14, 1956

